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“What makes Halifax great is that it is relatively flat,” says Kelsey Lane, executive director of the Halifax Cycling Coalition. “Obviously, we have some hills, but it hasn’t been an obstacle in riding a bicycle.”
With new shops and cycling groups popping up in HRM, and council focusing on finally getting more bike lanes on the ground, Halifax is becoming a better place to ride a bicycle. In recognition of that growing culture and infrastructure, the Halifax Cycling Coalition has once again launched its annual Bicycle Awards.
“It’s more competitive this year because we are seeing more engagement,” says Lane. This year’s nominees include a record number of businesses and individuals competing for titles such as Best Halifax Cycling Event or Most Bicycle-Friendly Politician.
The HCC is also using the event to advocate for a connected network of protected bike lanes throughout HRM.
“Protected bicycle lanes are proven to be the number one way to encourage more people to ride a bicycle,” says Lane. “People will no longer be afraid of riding a bicycle on the road.”
Lane is optimistic that in the coming years a connected network of protected bicycle lanes will be implemented by HRM. Unlike previous Regional Councils, Lane says many of the new city councillors—such as Sam Austin and Shawn Cleary—are supportive of having a network.
“It is not just good enough to add some paint to a road when you are looking to build a cycling network, especially in the core areas of Halifax and Dartmouth, where you can do the most good,” says Sam Austin, the new councillor for Dartmouth Centre.
As a step towards a better cycling network, Austin says he’s been prioritizing and working with council and the public to devise a better off-ramp for the Macdonald Bridge bike lane once The Big Lift is complete.
“The data from planning has been clear, if you provide people with infrastructure, you get more cyclists,” says Austin. “It is just a matter of do we have the will and will we stick with it?”
Lane hopes that this year’s Bike Awards and those held in the future will be an incentive for community and political leaders to compete and get recognized for being bicycle-friendly.
“The new council and its support for protected bicycle lanes symbolizes a shift in the mentality around cycling,” she says.
Voting takes place online at cyclehalifax.ca/vote and closes on November 31. The winners will be announced on December 5 at Timber Lounge.
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This article appears in Nov 24-30, 2016.
Let’s have a fucking award show rather than focus on a safe bicycle infrastructure! In FLAT Halifax. Such knobbery!
I also bicycle fairly regularly, Halifax is most certainly not “relatively flat”. I feel like “relatively hilly” or even “very hilly” are better terms…. I mean, if you only go from Agricola to Oxford and from Young to Quinpool…. I suppose it is generally flat-ish. Relatively flat is a huge stretch.
The awards thing probably promotes esprit des corps amongst the cycling community. You know, good vibes. Not everything is about pavement and lines.
No awards to the mid life crisis guy who thinks he is sponsored for the Tour De Waverley Rd? where they ignore the bike lane and peddle straight up the middle of the road? Who got 1st place for that pompous reality?
Lance McArmstrong
The only award any cyclist gets from me on some our or roads is a great big middle finger. When they ride outside the bike lanes thinking they are a car or whatever “entitlement” they seem to feel when they strap on the corporate spandex.
Read the law Ralphie…
Rotten Ralph: Proof that you can pass a drivers test, with a BJ. Cause he didn’t do it by learning any of the rules of the road.
Yes john i have gotten a bj while driving. More than what you can say.You probably bring your laptop playing Pornhub Bj in passenger seat because you can’t the real thing and then tell your cycling buddies you got a bj while driving a car? or do you just say “fuck cars!” and cycle up the middle of the street while your spandex mid-life crises buddy bounces quarters off your ass every day rain of shine?
When you peddle in a group line on Sundays,is it because you all like sniffing up each others ass’s?
That is word on the streets among pedestrians and car drivers alike.LOL
Ass sniffer!
Dweeb cyclists are even entitled to sniff each others ass’s in public. Gross!